Griffon (NYSE:GFF) Rating Lowered to "Strong Sell" at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded Griffon (NYSE:GFF) from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a recent report, reflecting increased skepticism among analysts.
• The company's stock has shown volatility, with a 1-year low of $62.26 and a high of $86.73, and it opened at $76.28 recently.
• Griffon reported earnings of $1.50 per share, meeting expectations, but revenues fell short of consensus estimates, down 5.3% compared to the previous year.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Griffon in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $98.20.

Griffon Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of GFF stock opened at $76.28 on Monday. Griffon has a 1-year low of $62.26 and a 1-year high of $86.73. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $76.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 22.58, a current ratio of 2.70 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The company has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.11.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The conglomerate reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. The firm had revenue of $613.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $649.95 million. Griffon had a return on equity of 144.21% and a net margin of 2.78%.The company's revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.24 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Griffon will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Griffon

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Griffon by 2.3% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 234,035 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $16,734,000 after purchasing an additional 5,243 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Griffon by 118.6% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,420 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $602,000 after purchasing an additional 4,568 shares during the last quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI grew its holdings in shares of Griffon by 26.6% during the 1st quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 29,811 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $2,131,000 after purchasing an additional 6,260 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $53,994,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Griffon by 178.4% during the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 15,628 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,117,000 after purchasing an additional 10,015 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Griffon Company Profile

Griffon Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides consumer and professional, and home and building products in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, and internationally. The company operates through two segments: Home and Building Products, and Consumer and Professional Products. The Home and Building Products segment manufactures and markets residential and commercial sectional garage doors, rolling steel service doors, fire doors, shutters, steel security grilles, and room dividers for the use in commercial construction and repair, and home remodeling applications.

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